The present invention relates to electrical connectors, and particularly to a connector assembly including a cable connector and printed circuit-mounted frame therefor.
In many electronic devices, it is desired to connect a cable, such as a coaxial or twin-axial cable, to a printed circuit. As electronic devices become smaller, less space is available for making the connection between the cable and the printed circuit. In particular, space above the surface of the printed circuit is limited. Therefore, the height of the connector as measured from the surface of the printed circuit must be small. Space is also limited on the printed circuit itself. Thus, the area occupied by the connector on the surface of the printed circuit (the “footprint” of the connector) must also be small. The footprint of the connector includes space on the printed circuit that must be kept free of surface-mounted components so as to allow engagement and disengagement of the connector.
Presently available connectors generally fall into one of two categories: vertically-mated connectors and horizontally-mated connectors. Vertically-mated connectors engage in a direction generally orthogonal to the surface of the printed circuit (commonly referred to as the Z-axis), while horizontally-mated connectors engage in a direction generally parallel to the surface of the printed circuit. Available vertically-mated connectors generally have a Z-axis height too large for use in many devices (such as mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and digital music players, for example) where a low-profile connector is required. However, vertically-mated connectors have an advantage of a relatively small footprint on the surface of the printed circuit, because no additional space on the printed circuit is required for engagement and disengagement of the connector. In contrast, horizontally-mated connectors generally have a lower Z-axis height, but also have a larger footprint on the printed circuit due to the space on the printed circuit that must be kept free of surface-mounted components to allow engagement and disengagement of the connector. The use of horizontally-mated connectors results in loss of valuable printed circuit real estate, and typically precludes the use of horizontally-mated connectors anywhere but at the edges of the printed circuit. However, in many small electronic devices, it is desired or necessary to place the connectors at positions other than an edge of the printed circuit.
In addition to the increasingly restrictive connector height and footprint requirements imposed by small electronic devices, the requirements for improved electrical performance of such connectors are also becoming more demanding. However, providing improved electrical performance becomes more difficult as connector sizes decrease.